6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas

The front door opened and slammed, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps in the foyer. A moment later, Ben called out to us.

“Cason? You were supposed to come in –”

He stopped in the doorway, all three of us staring back at him. He scratched his face as he looked down at us laying on the bed, Hailey still hiding her face, both of us soothing her. He could tell something was wrong.

“I have Nate watching over everything,” he said. “It should be fine.”

Cason nodded, and Ben came over to join us on the bed. He sat at the end, near Hailey's feet, and stroked her leg, a look of concern on his face.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“It will be,” I said.

CHAPTER NINETEEN - HAILEY

“You can stay here as long as you need to. As long as you want to,” Bennett said to me once we broke the news to him as well. “You and your child. You're both welcome here.”

“Really?” I sniffled, looking at him.

“Really,” Cason said.

Quinn also nodded. “It might be nice to have a kid around,” he said with a grin. “Somebody to throw the ball around with, maybe.”

The others seemed to agree. I sat up in the bed and looked at all three of them, taking in their similar facial features. There was a reason everyone loved these guys, and why I always crushed on them from afar. Now I was there, in the middle of the McCormick family, and they were welcoming me in with open arms.

Bennett added, “We have the extra space. And this way, Leo can't get anywhere near you,” he said, stroking my calf as he stared at me with his big, brown, soulful eyes.

“And I don't know about the others, Hailey,” Quinn said, “but I care about you.”

Ben nodded, then Cason. They all cared for me, and I felt the tears well up in my eyes. I not only had one good man who cared about me, I had three. All of them willing to protect me, no matter the cost. I reached for Bennett to come closer, suddenly I just wanted all of them close to me. I felt so safe amongst the guys, I just wanted to feel them near me.

To hold me.

To protect me.

We curled up on the bed in a puppy pile, and for a while, I could almost forget about the life growing inside of me. A life that belonged to a vile, reprehensible person. And a person who, if I had my way, would never know about their existence.

“What do you think about putting a crib right over there, near the bay window?” Quinn asked after a few minutes.

My pulse raced as I listened to him and realized he wasn't speaking to me. He was speaking to his brothers. Making plans for our future.

“I think it would look nice,” Cason said, kissing my forehead. “We'll have to move some things around, but there's plenty of room. Maybe we'll paint too. You just pick the colors, Hailey.”

“Guys, I could go back home with my parents,” I said, suddenly feeling embarrassed and like I was a huge burden.

“Not happening,” Quinn said. “This way you and your kid will never have to worry about Leo getting to you.”

“There's always at least one of us around,” Cason said. “If not all three of us.”

“Besides, it's about time we did something with this room,” Bennett said. “None of us are ever going to use it. And it's larger than your bedroom at home. With a baby on the way, you're going to need more space.”

He had a point. My room was easily half the size of this one, and there were no other options. We had a nice home, but it wasn't big by any means. And my parents were gone a lot, leaving me alone. If I were there alone and Leo showed up – I shuddered to think what might happen.

Knowing that in the McCormick house, that there was usually at least one of the boys around, I knew I'd never be alone. And I'd never feel unsafe.

“What will people think?” I asked.

Bennett shrugged. “Who cares?” he said. “If anything at all, they'll probably think one of us is the father.”